Financing / Crowdfunding

I launched it anyway!!! I'm going to try!!!! :D

https://www.fakeidproductions.com/luckyalienfilm

markdeuce that’s a misleading statement to say to get any return on YouTube you need over 1,000 followers-

and 4,000 viewing hours per month. to get to that is a job in itself with constant content.

there are many stats that say fb advertising is best for crowdfunding but I’ve always found Twitter to be better. it’s constant posting for 60 days. there’s a trick to it and when you get half way ish you get super backers. they like you or your story.

The website looks great, Jasmin Haugstuen Please!

The key to successfully raising your budget on crowdfunding is to have a core base to go to on launch date, along with a compelling campaign. Most of your money will come from friends, family, colleagues, etc. Not random people and not other filmmakers. Also, I'd ask yourself if you can do the film for 5-10k, as that's an easier goal than 15-25k. I'd spend at least 2-3 months on pre-launch prep / building a following to reach out to. Either way, best wishes to you!!

It is not just montetizing your YT chanel, but marketing yourself and content Jane Sanger have a great weekend.

That is amazing news Torin Ives and best of luck with them going forward.

It's awesome that you got that reaction, Torin Ives - so good to have that type of response to your work. You should feel good about that. And the community is giving you good advice here. If you have not signed an agreement yet you are free and clear to take the project to other companies and this is a good time to pursue that as you have real interest from a big company. Until you have signed a deal, you are free to share it with anyone you want.

I am looking for major funding for my sci-fi thriller "The Emperor of Flying Cars." There are many true elements to this story. I have a full copywritten screenplay. Does anyone here want to read it for possible acquisition and development?

Jordan Schaffner Hi Jordan, please follow the community protocols by starting your own post and introducing yourself and your project to us, rather than piggy-backing on Torin’s post. It will give you more exposure. Cheers, Geoff (Stage32 Lounge Moderator)

You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take. Saying "I think they'll pass" is tantamount to you making their mind up for them. Hand them the idea and let them decide if they like or not. Don't decide for them before you even try. Yes, you may get a lot of "no." But it only takes one yes to set you off. "One tree can make a thousand matches, but all it takes to burn down a thousand trees is one match."

Now that is an interesting suggestion! Thank you for mentioning it

Pass it on to everyone will you?

Morgan Leo Shnell All over it!

Great idea and should have been done long ago...waiting for a response from RB...

Again share this with everyone. Hollywood is burning.

I wasn't impressed!

James Richards I went through them with a project. I was let down by one of their ‘Producers’ and when I complained the CEO called me and dropped me because of my ‘attitude, claining that I was ‘unworkable with’. I was not impressed, especially after the first meeting, when they loved the project and wanted to work with me on it. You pay for their service and then they summarily dismiss you and you have no chance of redress. Don’t go there!

Smoke and mirrors. I have not used them personally but I know people who have. Costly introduction service that never seems to pan out.

I personally prefer https://www.startengine.com/ It allows you to sell microshares of your company.

I like start engine, but we're partnering with a non-profit that helps first responders with mental health. And I don't see that being as flashy to shareholders

Hi Ben Rood - i’m not familiar with that platform. So keep in mind when you are picking a crowd funding platform that if there are less eyeballs on it to begin with it’s going to be even harder to try and raise six figures. If you haven’t read our founder and CEO‘s book “Crowdsourcing for filmmakers”, I highly recommend you read it before you ever start with your crowdfunding campaign. He interviewed hundreds of filmmakers over the period of two years, and has best practices to be able to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign. It has over 100 5 star reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Crowdsourcing-Filmmakers-American-Market-Presents/dp/1138849898

A plug for RB's book, shocker! Haha, thanks, Amanda Toney. I own it, I've read it and I enjoyed it. His encouragement towards passionate fans before dollars, seeing as fans will be your driving force in the indie world is very refreshing. Crowdsourcing over Crowdfunding. We're making a movie for firefighters, much in credit to RB's and Alex Ferrari's books.

As far as the platforms go, there's a ton more people on Kickstarter, sure. But the pre-launch page on Indiegogo is just so. much. better. It's like Goliath against David without a slingshot. Kickstarter has a better track record for projects, but they don't let you include a video on your pre-launch page. And we shot a proof of concept film, and it's good. So we're going with Indiegogo to show it off and drive traffic for 3 months before we launch.

Honored, Ben Rood. Appreciate the good words and hopeful the info and guidance is assisting in your firefighter film. It seems like a project that's a perfect fit for crowdsourcing.

If you've left a review already on Amazon, thank you. If you haven't, I would love if you would take a couple of minutes to do so! Cheers, and have a fantastic Sunday.

This is good news, Geoff Hall. Incentives are such a vital part of the financing process right now - qualifying for incentives can make or break your project. Happy to see the UK competing like this.

Sam Sokolow me too, Sam. The demise of the UK Film industry started before the pandemic and I think it will take a while before we see the benefits and the evidence of a recovery. But at least we are moving in the right direction.

This is indeed good news. That said, the UK always had a very strong incentive in place, which is why a lot of content is being produced there. This expansion will increase the flow of productions to the UK, which I believe is something that works well for the UK and for Hollywood. I would, however, caution everyone considering shooting in the UK about the potentially higher production costs when shooting in the UK ( in comparison to shooting in the U.S.). I have shoot a number of projects in the UK and found that feasible budgeting can at times be challenging. This is obviously very project specific, and it also relates to the coproduction partner in the UK that you ( the US producer) would choose to work with when realizing a project in the UK. You will likely need to select a local UK producer to help you with obtaining / optimizing the incentive funds and also with realizing the physical production in the UK. On various of my projects, that I have produced there, I chose UK co-production partners to optimize the incentives and help manage costs effectively, to decrease costs wherever possible. These are my two cents and hopefully they can help a little.

If anyone is looking for professional UK production partners, feel free to reach out and I’m happy to provide you with some suggestions.

Jeanette B. Milio thanks for chipping in to the conversation. If you stay out of London and filmed say in Bristol, that would provide you with a cheaper option. Films@59 have great post-production services and workstations. https://filmsat59.com/

If you're shooting in the UK you can take advantage of the tax credits here, you may need a UK based co-producer, and maybe post in Germany where there are also good tax credits. For the rest, have you thought of the pre-sales route via a sales agent? If not have a look at that, you will need some bankable lead actors to achieve international pre-sales, though depends on the potential audience, and budget, they can be well known TV actors, though better if well known film actors

Every feature I've produced and was able to raise funding on came through relationships. Building a reputation as someone who can deliver on your promises, bringing quality, bankable material to the party, offering value at every turn sets you apart from everyone else trying to do the same thing.

This is why I treat networking like a job and dedicate at least an hour a day to the process. It's a brick by brick approach.

One strategy that sometimes works is to create a great looking trailer or short, demonstrating not only the concept but also the skills of the Director. Having something like that in your package when pitching the project can usually help.

Unless there is a clear and binding contract that says Katz was solely responsible for paying those initial crew members (which the article does not acknowledge) then it should be the film's responsibility. Their fees should be baked into the production cost or, if the guilds and crew members agree, into the profit waterfall as first (or close to first) money out. But those crew members need to be paid and it reads like Furman gets that. Will be following this story unfold for sure.

thanks

This is one valuable share.

This is an amazing resource, Amanda Toney! Thank you!

Definitely a great resource for comparing film tax credits jurisdictions! Amanda Toney :)

Thank you Amanda Toney